Her Son
by xxPeepsxx
Summary: Whatever he does, whatever he looks like, however idiotic he is, he is and will always be, her son.


At five foot four, Chu GaEul didn't cut a very threatening stature. Yet, those livid brown eyes burning in fury and that hardened jaw were able to reduce a young, energetic six-foot-five man into a sniveling little boy, one that shifted from foot to foot while flashing bashful smiles and making foolish guilt-ridden faces at his mother in order to try and appease her.

For half a minute, they stood there, two figures, the focus of the entire room's attention.

Then Chu GaEul kicked him in the shin.

"OW! MOM!" the grown up little kid whined, clutching his shin and hopping around.

"Why you little," GaEul began her little rant, beating the young man-child with her bare palms. Her lower lip trembled and the tight, dense ball of worry that had taken place in the pits of her stomach since two years ago began to dissolve and dissipate away. Worry was replaced with disbelief. Disbelief was replaced with confirmation and relief. Then they were replaced with indignation and anger. Throughout it all, love flowed.

"Mom!" The young-adult protested, grabbing one of her hands mid-hit in his . With a sharp nose and high cheekbones decorated with freckles, the boy resembled nothing like the woman he called his mother. But those captivating dark eyes and jet black hair were simply copies of his father's.

"Let go of my arm Ricky So, how dare you!" GaEul spat, trying to shake her arm away from her son's grasp. No such thing happened. Instead, he took her other wrist in his, effectively stopping the beatings.

"Who asked you to come back? If you'd decided to leave all on your own then you should've just stayed outside forever, alone!" GaEul grunted.

"Mom! Eomma, I'm sorry, I was an idiot. Come on mother, your eldest son is right back, why are you hitting him? Shouldn't you be jumping for joy?" the cheeky young man retorted between jumps, attempting to escape his mother's kicking legs.

"Let go of my arms, kid, let go! Are you not letting go?" the almost-fifty lady decked out in elegant blue screeched as her son twirled her around and locked her in his tight embrace. From behind her, he pinned her arms close to her chest and imprisoned her legs in his.

"Mommy, I'm sorry, I love you mommy!" the black-haired kid declared and pecked his mother on the cheek.

"Oh my hazelnut-cookie-cream-pie, what am I going to do with you?" GaEul huffed, finally relenting.

"Love me!"

GaEul rolled her eyes and let out a scoff, cracking a smile. She shot a look at her husband who was casually leaning against the back of an armchair, a small luggage beside him. He just silently raised his eye-brows at her and smirked, then shrugged, arms folded.

Turning around, GaEul cupped her adopted son's face in her hands and looked deep into his eyes with all the warmth and love that another mother could give her own biological child. Briefly scanning his frame, she saw that he had grown since he had abruptly left two years ago. The Swedish parts of his make up had become more pronounced and the Korean ones still looked more or less the same.

Sixteen years ago, when he first stood at their doorstep looking up at them with equal parts innocence and fear, upon learning that he was a product of one of YiJeong's Swedish escapades before their marriage, GaEul had gone berserk. Her mind just imploded and she left the house without a word. She went straight for JanDi's house, sobbing along the way, the humiliation dawning upon her. The shock left her speechless as she roamed JunPyo's lands like a zombie the next few days. YiJeong had called and she had ignored him, until the third day when she had simply replied that she had needed space, whereupon, he left her alone. Amidst JanDi's screams about revenge and under JaeKyung's concerned watch, GaEul moped around the house, lamenting her plight.

Every day, HanYoung and HyungWoo, her biological children would call and she would speak with them. She would sob through the phone as she managed their fears with soothing words while working through her own confusion. She had explained that she was going through a hard time and they had understood. They would then jabber about their day and the mood would lift, but whenever they had wanted to put the phone through to the new child or YiJeong, she would hastily get off it.

It was about a week later when JaeKyung finally confronted her.

"So what are you going to do? Divorce him?" she had simply said.

"No!" GaEul had retorted.

"Then you should go back. You can't continue like this GaEul. You either divorce him or go back and fix things. They're just as scared as you are," JaeKyung had replied.

"But the child-"

"The child did nothing to deserve this. All he did was be born, which was none of his fault whatsoever. You can't keep him, and yourself and YiJeong in limbo like this forever, GaEul."

GaEul had just walked off, even more confused. She had continued pacing JunPyo's lawn, but now with the conversation weighing on her mind. Finally, she gathered her courage and returned home.

The child had done no wrong.

YiJeong had made the mistake before they had officially gotten together.

And she was hurting too much to be away from her family.

For the first time in a week, she saw her husband again. YiJeong had been dishevelled but was still fine and when he looked at her, he was completely apologetic and guilty. Without another thought she had hugged him, head buried into his neck, her entire frame melting into his, forgiving him.

When she had entered the house, three children waited for her. She hugged HanYoung and wiped her tears away. She hugged HyungWoo tight and patted his back. Then she turned to the third child, kneeling so that she would be eye level with him.

He was standing stiff and was full of fear. His fists were clenched and his mouth was clamped shut. His face was whiter than even that fairest of Europeans. It was white with terror. The sight broke GaEul's heart and she could not believe that she had done this to a child. She brushed his fringe with her bare fingers then carefully gathered him in her arms.

"I'm so sorry darling," she whispered as she kissed the top of her son's head and he burst into tears.

Ricky So SeungWon. Thank heavens YiJeong had learnt from babysitting HanYoung and HyungWoo and had not ill-treated him in any way while she was busy being immature. Otherwise, she might have strangled him for hurting her son. Her son. And she had not looked back since that day.

Today, she looked at him the same way she did sixteen years ago. He was now all grown up.

"Eomma," he whispered.

GaEul smiled and brushed his fringe aside.

"Leave without warning again and don't ever think of coming back," she threatened.

"Never mommy. Especially not over some stupid insecurities, ever again," he grinned.

GaEul rolled her eyes and stared back up at her son, lips pursed. She folded her arms.

"Where did you get this foolishness from, kid?" she asked mock-scathingly. "It must be in your genes."

She shot her husband a glare.

YiJeong stared at her, mouth open, arms in the air.

"Hey, low blow," he retorted.

"Mom, you know, psychologists have found that who you are is part nature and part nurture," Ricky quipped. "It might not all be dad."

GaEul whipped around and prepared to hit again.

"Why you little-"

"Mooo~~~ooo~~ mmy!" Ricky protested as he dodged her blows.

Then the door burst open and a girl and boy ran in.

"Oppa!"

"Hyung!"

And they wrapped him in their giant, great, big bear hug.


End file.
